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Tondemo Skill – 514 – Workaholic Mukouda Can’t Catch a Break
Breakfast naturally consisted of things that I had already made ahead of time.
[1] The Gluttonous Quartet and Elf Grandma were fed with plenty of Ginger Grilled Rice Bowls. Loads and loads of it. I basically just treat her like one of my familiars. The only difference was that she doesn’t speak to me via telepathy.
The rest of us gets a proper Japanese-style breakfast menu:
– Miso soup made with Chinese Cabbage and Shiitake Mushrooms
– Wakame Seaweed Rice Balls
– Dashimaki Rolled Omelets
– Japanese-Style Pickled Cucumbers
[1] Since Feodora-san was eyeing our breakfast too, I let her have a set of the Standard Japanese Breakfast Set on top of her Ginger Grilled Rice Bowls.
Luckily, I was not idle at Carelina and made all kinds of odds and ends which now became useful when I needed to throw a bunch of things together for breakfast.
Right, now that the nice breakfast is over, let’s take a break.
It’s my day off after all! My day off!
Speaking of which, everyone, familiars, [Ark] were all given 100% orange juice to wash down their breakfast.
As for me, fufun~
First, I took out my nice ceramic cup from the[Item Box], along with a container of ice. I really wanted to use transparent glass for this, but since the people from [Ark] are here, let’s refrain from it.
Ahhh, I can already smell it. The crackle of ice and the scent of coffee tingling up my nose~
As a coffee lover, having a tall glass of Iced Coffee in this everlasting summer is the way to go~
Today, I chose the Kilimanjaro Blend. Because the instructions on the back says that it’s the best type of blend for Iced Coffee.
To ensure the best aroma, I decided to double the amount of coffee used. Because iced things often lose their fragrance and taste. It’s just natural for cold things to be less strong in terms of taste, also, the ice would dilute the flavour so double it is!
Speaking of which, I could totally make more Iced Coffee and store them in my [Item Box], right?
Hehehe, I’m such a genius~
“Hm? Mukouda-san, what kind of drink is that?”
Gaudino-san was staring at my cup with wide eyes.
“This? It’s a drink from my hometown. It’s pretty fragrant, right? It’s quite bitter though, a lot of outsiders say it’s an acquired taste,” I said in my best this-is-all-natural voice.
Feodora-san, who had also been staring at my drink, looked away at the word ‘bitter’.
Oho.
I guess she has a child’s palate?
I held out the jug of Iced Coffee that I just had made for Gaudino-san’s inspection. “Would you like to give it a try?”
Gaudino-san shifted closer, and stared at the contents of the jug for a moment before saying, “The colour is kind of…”
Ah, I guess the pitch-black colour is putting him off? Should I serve him coffee with milk? Wait, do I even have milk in my [Item Box]?
“It’s really fragrant though…” he looked really tempted, but hesitant at the same time. “I don’t suppose you have any tea…?”
[2]
“Oho, Leader is the type to buy tea wherever he goes,” Gideon-san suddenly interjected.
“Umu, alcohol is a real man’s drink,” Siegwald-san said with a sniff.
“I see,” I said, a little offended by the ‘real man’s drink’ comment. “I guess Siegwald-san won’t want to try coffee either?”
“U-umu,”
“It’s not unmanly to like tea! Especially black tea!”
Woah, did I stumble onto a landmine? Anyway, I do have some tea around somewhere, so…
“Would you like some Iced Black Tea?” I said, eager to disperse the unexpected tension in the air.
“You have some?” Gaudino-san was immediately excited. Then, he frowned and said, “But, Iced Tea? Aren’t tea best when hot?”
“Let’s give it a try first,” I said, “I can always serve you hot tea if you don’t like it.”
“Well…”
“Then it’s decided, let’s see… hmm, let’s go with some Earl Grey,” I said as I started pulling out the box of tea and a teapot. First, I warmed the teapot with hot water and dropped two sachets of tea into it. After pouring in the hot water, I covered the pot and leave it to steam for three minutes.
While the pot was steaming, I placed ice into a ceramic cup to cool it down. Once the three minutes for the tea was up, I poured the tea into the cup of ice.
The clink of ice floating up is very pleasant. Especially on this hot island.
“The fragrance may be weaker since the tea is served cold, but it should have a nice and refreshing mouthfeel,” I said.
“I see, oh, it’s really cold!”
“Indeed, since it’s cold, you can drink it in one go.”
“Ou, well, bottoms up!” He chugged the glass of Iced Tea and sighed. “Woah, that’s…”
“Refreshing right? Cold things are more delicious in this kind of weather,”
“Indeed, indeed,” he sighed and said, “Still, this is a really luxurious drink. It’s not easy to get this much ice in one go.”
“Hm? Really?” I mean, I have Sui so I could get her to make me as much ice as I like since she could create potable water. I guess for others, even if they want to make ice, they need to have access to potable water first.
This makes me even more grateful for simple things like having ice whenever I wanted.
While I was enjoying my Iced Coffee…
“Oi,”
“What is it, Fer? It’s not lunchtime yet.”
“Tch, I know that. I just want to let you know that we’re going hunting.”
“Hunting? Now? We? Who’s we? Today’s a holiday!”
“Master may stay here,” said Grandpa Gon in his benevolent elder voice.
“What? But, what if a Behemoth attacked me like last time!!??”
Was my knee-jerk reaction at being told that I would be left behind during a hunt. That’s right, I was still traumatised by my experience from Uranus.
Up Uranus for that!
“That was an unexpected incident,” said Fer.
“Incident? Unexpected?” I wanted to howl.
“Do not worry, Master. There are only small fries on this island. Moreover, we shall also put up a barrier.”
“Fat lot good your barrier did last time!” I shouted. “I was kicked around like a soccer ball! Our poor magic stove died a pitiful death!!”
“That’s… we shall anchor a barrier to that tree over there. On top of the barrier on Master, surely it will be safe?”
The tree in question was a palm tree that just happen to grow by itself just a little bit outside the belt of trees that edged around the beach.
“What sort of barrier? How big?” I sulked. There was no way I could stop them. I mean, I probably could if I threatened to withhold food, but then I would have to deal with their sulking.
“It is a barrier made by Grandpa Gon and I. There is no better defence in the world than this.”
“The barrier will be as tall as the tree and circle the area in a half sphere,” Grandpa Gon reassured me.
“And, you say there are only small fries here?” I asked, completely ignoring Fer.
“That is true, I would not lie.”
“Ughh, I somehow still feel uneasy…” I muttered to myself. “So, um, will you be back for lunch?”
“Kuh… lunch… I haven’t thought of that…” muttered Fer.
“Hmm, since today is a free day, I guess it’s fine for you guys to do what you want in your free time. How about I pack some lunch for your trip?”
I am totally treating them like a bunch of kids going on a field trip, aren’t I?
“What? Would Master really–!?”
Hoho, look at their excited faces~
“Yes, yes, I’ll make you a [3] bento, you can take it with you in the magic bag,” I said absently, already flipping through ideas of what to make.
“A bento?”
“Um, a lunch box. Something you can take with you now and eat later,” I said as I rummaged through my [Item Box]. “Sandwiches would be the best I think. You two go and make the barrier while I get your lunch ready.”
“Umu,”
“Yes, Master~”
“”What will Aruji make~~?””
“”Bread! I love bread!!””
“Yes, I’ll be making some Cutlet Sandwiches for you guys. Nice and meaty, and easy to eat, alright?”
It did not take long for me to put a bunch of sandwiches together. I placed the sandwiches into four large container boxes. There’s no point giving them those cute single-serving lunch boxes. If Dora-chan can’t finish his share, the rest could eat it for him.
“Right, it’s ready. Here’s the magic bag with your lunch, and here’s a spare magic bag you can use to put your prey in if you need it. Have a good day~”
“”Yay~~””
“”Hyahoo!!””
“Umu, we’re leaving now.”
“Thank you for the lunch boxes, Master.”
After I waved them off, Gideon-san sidled closer to ask, “Excuse me, Mukouda-san. But, where are Fenrir-sama and Ancient Dragon-sama going?”
“They want to go for a hunt, so I made them some lunch to go. Don’t worry, I make sure they put up a barrier here so it’s pretty safe. Let’s take it easy today.”
“Is that so…” Gideon-san looked relieved.
Well, I can’t blame him.
“I thought I heard someone say Behemoth,” said Siegwald-san with a twitching face.
“Ah, well, things happened,” I said vaguely.
The [Ark] looked like they wanted to ask, but did not really want to know…
Anyway, we spent the rest of the morning relaxing with Iced Coffees and Iced Teas, laying down on the beach, and relaxing.
At noon, we had some Cutlet Sandwiches.
Naturally, I made extra while putting my familiars’ bento together. Since there was a request, I also took out a crate of beer for Gaudino-san, Gideon-san and Siegwald-san. Ahhhh, beer, meat sandwich and sun.
What more could a man ask?
The sole beautiful woman in the group was currently stuffing herself with Cutlet Sandwiches, she has a sandwich in each hand and was taking alternate bites from both.
I had just closed my eyes when a sudden thought struck me. Wait, I seem to recall that we don’t have much prepared food left.
Unable to sleep anymore, I got to my feet and took out my magic stove.
Let’s do a little cooking to get ahead. I foresee many rough days where I would be too tired or traumatised to do any actual cooking.
Ughh, Feodora’s staring is getting a little too uncomfortable. Why are you staring at my stove like that? In the end, I had to pretend she was just a weird statue. Now and then, I took pity on her and gave her something to nibble on.
At least she doesn’t snatch food off my stove.
Hmm, aren’t they a little late?
“I have made everyone’s favourites, but where are you guys?” I mused as I stared at the setting ‘sun’.
Just how long do you plan to go hunting?
[Gumihou: Uh oh, what are those gluttons hunting now?]
[1] Adjust the text to better make fun of Feodora
[2] Make the tea/coffee interaction more natural
[3] I’m going to assume that they don’t know what a bento is. Also, give a bit more detail on their ‘lunch box’